Saturated and defeated by a Shannon Cole sucker punch, the result will heap more pressure on struggling Heart coach John Aloisi.

As the rain poured down in the second half, a glimpse at the two coaches was telling.

Wanderers' Tony Popovic was sheltered by an umbrella, while a stoic Aloisi was drenched by the rain.

It was the second week in a row Aloisi's men had the better of the first half without reward - but unlike their trip to Brisbane last week, the Wanderers did not wait to punish them.

In the 27th minute, Adam D'Apuzzo's cross was nodded on by Tomi Juric to Shannon Cole at the back post who put it past Andrew Redmayne on his second attempt.

The Wanderers' height advantage troubled the Heart, with no-one taller than 6 feet in defence and the diminutive Michael Mifsud struggling against the tall timber in attack.

Just minutes after Cole's opener, Shinji Ono found the towering Matthew Spiranovic who headed onto the bar, the rebound bouncing to an ill-prepared Brendon Santalab who headed over the cross-bar from a metre in front.

Despite seven shots to two in the first half, the closest the Heart came was a long shot which rattled the crossbar from David Williams.

He increasingly became the fulcrum of Heart's creative efforts as the match went on but was surprisingly replaced by Nick Kalmar.

Entering the final frenetic minutes, Mate Dugandzic headed against the bar for Heart and Kalmar headed over.

As Heart committed more men forward, Western Sydney substitute Labinot Haliti fired just wide and Juric chose to shoot rather than pass to the open Aaron Mooy.

Still, Popovic cannot complain with the gritty victory that sees his side pass the Roar at the top of the league.

At the final whistle, it was hard to escape the conclusion that Aloisi must wish he could call on Harry Kewell, stuck in the stands with an ankle injury.

Aloisi's side finished last season with five losses and will find himself under increasing pressure as long as he fails to break through in this campaign.

You have no doubt been hearing a lot about the Paris Agreement and know that it pertains to climate change, but are too embarrassed at this stage to ask for an overall explanation of what it's all about.